Lakers' D'Angelo Russell-Brook Lopez trade was all for Lonzo Ball

Lonzo Ball has emerged as arguably the key cornerstone for the Los Angeles Lakers going forward. In truth, president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka began building around the rookie out of UCLA before the Purple and Gold made him the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

In a wide-ranging piece about Pelinka, Lakers columnist Kevin Ding relayed that the front office dealt D’Angelo Russell with Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets two days before the draft because, having made up their minds that Ball would be the choice, the team’s braintrust was “cognizant of positional duplication with Ball and Russell” at point guard.

“As the picture started to become clearer closer to the draft,” Pelinka said, “you take that into account.”

The return for Russell and Mozgov (i.e. Brook Lopez and the No. 27 pick) was also dictated, in part, by the Crown Prince of Chino Hills:

Pelinka was also considering Ball’s and Brandon Ingram’s feelings in acquiring Lopez. . .Pelinka wanted to give Luke Walton’s offense more open lanes to maximize Ball and Ingram.

That makes sense in theory, but in practice, it hasn’t done much to help the Lakers’ offense. According to NBA.com, L.A. has averaged more points per 100 possessions when Ball plays without Lopez (101.4) than when the two have shared the floor (100.6). Both of those would put the Purple and Gold among the league’s bottom two in offensive efficiency—just below their actual rank (28th).

The pick involved has already proved to be the better asset of those the Lakers got for Russell. Though L.A. would’ve likely landed rookie sensation Kyle Kuzma with either of its late first-rounders, the addition of Brooklyn’s pick allowed the Lakers to trade the No. 28 pick, which the team acquired by trading Lou Williams to the Houston Rockets, for the Nos. 30 (Josh Hart) and 42 (Thomas Bryant) selections.

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In truth, the trade was geared toward clearing cap room for this coming summer. By removing the remainder of Mozgov’s four-year, $64 million contract from their books, the Lakers moved one giant step closer to having the financial flexibility to pursue superstar free-agents-to-be like LeBron James and Paul George. Adding players of their caliber would certainly help Ball move closer to championship contention during his tenure in L.A.

Russell, on the other hand, looked like a brilliant pickup for Brooklyn early on. Through his first 12 games, the former No. 2 pick averaged 20.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting 46.3 percent from the field.

But the Louisville native hasn’t been the same since missing two months recovering from knee surgery. In five appearances following his return, he put up 6.4 points on 29.3 percent shooting (23.5 percent from three) with 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17.0 minutes off the bench.

Zo has been no picture of health, either. Come Wednesday, he’ll log his 14th DNP of the season—the last eight on account of a sprained MCL in his left knee—when the Lakers take on the Orlando Magic.

With any luck, Lonzo will be ready to go on Friday, when L.A. stops into the Barclays Center to face Russell’s Nets. The last time those two floor generals went toe-to-toe, D’Angelo came out ahead or even in points (17-6), rebounds (7-5) and assists (7-7), but Ball had the last laugh in a 124-112 Lakers win.